whether there was much DIRECT MILITARY VALUE to the raid or not there was a HUGE BOOST to US morale and just as huge a SHOCK TO Japan. this caused the Japanese leadership to change strategy from all out southerly expansion to filling in the gaps in defences! as this led directly to Midway it could be argued that the military value of the raid was higher than any other USN operation in WW2.

--Previous Message-- : As we are coming up on the 75th Anniversary of : the Doolittle Raid, I thought I'd ask for a : bit of speculation. If I read the specs : correctly, the Saratoga and Lexington had : almost 100 feet more flight deck than did : the Hornet. Given that the B-25 bomb loads : were limited because of the need for extra : fuel while remaining light due to the short : length for take off, might Sara or Lex have : not been better choices from which to launch : the raid? :